I read an article entitled Foreign Company Deceived Ministry of Finance to secure Financial Grade Approval posted on 17 May 2012 on the Singapore Government’s REACH online Discussion Forum which ostensibly contains allegations of corruption and fraud involving the NLB Follett Corporation, a US company, and I posted a comment on 5 June 2012 on the REACH Discussion Forum but on 6 June 2012 the entire article cannot be found on REACH! I searched online and discovered that the original article was posted on sammyboy on 14 May 2012 and shared with others on REACH and hardwarezone on 17 May 2012 and also as a comment on temasektimes. I am puzzled that the entire post has been pulled from REACH and I am sharing my comment with all of you together with a summary of the original post that I have also sent to The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau for its necessary action: The author is referring to Mrs Josephine Teo, the Minister of State for Finance and Transport, when he or she refers to ‘Josephine’ in the article below. As an National Library Board insider, the NLB officer in charge referred to in paragraph 4 of the same article (summarised below) is Mr Kenny Chan Ter Sin, Deputy Director, Resource Management, National Library Board. I would also like to inform you that on 24 June 2011 Mr Kenny Chan Ter Sin met with a Follett Director in New Orleans, USA, and you may wish to seek clarification from him if any financial contribution was promised or made by the Follett Director to the National library Board at the meeting in New Orleans, USA. I am also very puzzled that while the Gebiz Tender (Reference No: NLB Tender ref: NLB000/04/2009) was awarded on 8 March 2011 as stated on the National Library Board’s own Letter of Acceptance signed by the NLB’s Ms Ngian Lek Choh as the Acting Chief Executive of the NLB at the time and as, also, restated as 8 April 2011 in the Gebiz Tender Award, namely, Gebiz NLB Contract No: NLB000ECO11000246, however, NLB000ECO11000246, the Gebiz Tender Award itself was only published on Gebiz on 27 May 2011 after the Singapore General Elections that were held on 7 May 2011. Mr Kenny Chan Ter Sin had also requested that the foreign contractors who were awarded the NLB Contract should not publish any information about the Gebiz Tender Award until after official Gebiz notification because to do so before the Singapore General Elections could adversely impact the performance of the ruling party’s liberal proforeigner policies in the General Election held on 7 May 2011. Could the CPIB please investigate if Mr Kenny Chan Ter Sin was acting on his own to influence the outcome of the Singapore General Elections in May 2011 in favour of the ruling party or if he was following orders. It also remains to be seen if the CPIB will be as vigorous in its investigation of non-sex for contracts related graft especially if it involves government entities and foreigners and foreign companies! The Fat Lady The article in the REACH Discussion Forum as posted on 17 May 2011 (and summarised below): Follett Corporation, which is a holding company with consolidated financial statements that participated in a Gebiz Tender (Reference No: NLB Tender ref: NLB000/04/2009). Follett Corporation is not a trading company or a business unit with its own revenue stream but it was given a financial grade S10 approval by the Ministry of Finance's Expenditure and Procurement Policy Unit (EPPU) (Reference No: ESRA20100902785). Follett Corporation provided false information to the EPPU and fooled the EPPU into providing the financial grade S10 approval that entitled Follett Corporation to advance to the next stage of the Gebiz Tender carried out by the National Library Board (NLB) and to be subsequently AWARDED the NLB Contract as one of the NLB's handful of contractors for the multi-million dollar NLB Contract for a maximum period of six years! Josephine, could you please investigate this matter that owing to the sloppiness and the errors in the review of the financial statements consolidated or otherwise and the gullibility of the EPPU in evaluating such financial statements from foreign companies that is blatant unfair discrimination that prejudices several local companies competing in the same Gebiz Tender and in the case of Follett Corporation to rub salt into open wounds not only did the EPPU give a financial grade approval as a consequence to the false information provided to it by Follett Corporation but it also UPGRADED Follett Corporation's financial grade approval from S8 to S10! After being awarded the NLB Contract carried out through the Gebiz Tender, in April 2011, Follett Corporation which did not have a local presence in Singapore before the award of the NLB Contract attempted to invoice the NLB through one of it's subsidiary companies as invoicing the NLB on Follett Corporation's own letterhead as a holding company could have had serious adverse tax implications for Follett Corporation with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the US! Follett Directors have also boasted that Follett Corporation has done business in other countries around the world too whilst 'masquerading' as a holding company in the US! In the Gebiz Tender documents submitted by Follett Corporation for evaluation by the NLB, Follett Corporation claimed to be working closely with a local company, Fables Pte Ltd (Fables), that Follett corporation described as its Singapore Partner but Follett Corporation has recently advised the NLB that it has dissolved it's association with Fables without giving any reasons. Fables introduced Follett corporation to the NLB and the NLB's Gebiz Tender and was instrumental in Follett Corporation's success in being awarded the NLB Contract but Follett Corporation has apparently been given the NLB's blessing to do business with the NLB on its own as the NLB officer in charge has previously indicated on various occasions a preference for working with foreign companies which he insists speak their minds as opposed to local companies which he insists just do as they are told by the NLB! Nevertheless, Follett Corporation's track record as evaluated by the NLB during the ongoing transition phase after the award of the NLB Contract is described as poor. Josephine, could you please investigate if Follett Corporation has made any financial contribution to the NLB in the form of sponsorship or otherwise and, also, if any such financial contribution had induced the NLB to continue to work with the NLB during it's dismal performance during the ongoing transition phase. Could you also please clarify whether any such financial contribution was given to the NLB by the same Follett Director, directly or indirectly, who signed off on the Follett corporation letterhead falsely to secure the EPPU financial grade approval! Josephine, I hope that you will investigate the unfair financial grade approval granted to Follett Corporation by the Ministry of Finance's EPPU as a consequence of false information provided by Follett Corporation and take all necessary steps to create a level playing field for both local companies and foreign companies so that one day in the future your assurance given in Parliament that government procurement is transparent, open and fair and value for money for both local companies and foreign companies will have the ring of truth about it for all.